The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
Welcome, Steven, to Aspects of History. What was it that first led you into the study of architecture and cultural history? Which came first? I was always fascinated by British history and British architecture from my earliest years, though I’m not sure why: no-one in...
‘Iconic’ is a rather overused and clichéd word these days. It’s probably quite helpful, then, to unpack exactly what we mean when we use this term for the architecture of the past or present – or rather, what we ought to mean. Many new buildings in Britain’s towns and...
It seems apt that the paperback edition of Andrew Lambert’s gripping analysis in No More Napoleons should be published as Britain’s contribution to the preservation of the security of the continent of Europe, and indeed the wider world, is under debate and our very...
The Business of Conquest In 1756, the East India Company decided to strengthen its position in Kolkata by investing heavily in new fortifications. The Indian city had grown from only a few thousand people to around 400,000 in only fifty years – larger than any town in...
When a Single British Colony Ruled over a Quarter of Humanity This spring, tensions between India and Pakistan reached their most perilous point in decades. With skirmishes erupting along their shared border and nuclear rhetoric flaring on both sides, the region...
Gautam Hazarika, what first attracted you to the period or periods you work in? I had always been interested in WW2, primarily Britain’s war against Nazi Germany, but not in the Far East, even after living 20 years in Singapore where so much of it happened at my...
Questions India myths about Subhas Chandra Bose, INA, are of great interest in India today India’s INA history is largely focused on Netaji. Indeed he did a lot, but he had a lot of help. The book shows that the INA was not started by him, but 18 months earlier by the...
Family Stories of The Forgotten Indian Prisoners of World War II Captain Mohan Singh – history hero of the book – his son, daughter, niece and grandchildren Centurion and only survivor of Singapore I’ve found so far, Lance-Naik Charan Singh (Punjabi). Lucid and in...
Nelson’s Pathfinders is essential reading for Naval Historians. It is prescient that it is being published a year after the Admiralty announced it will be withdrawing paper charts and notices to mariners from 2026. For anyone unfamiliar with an Admiralty Chart it is a...
Michael Barritt, what first attracted you to naval history? My tutor at Oxford was Piers Mackesy, who was working on seminal books on the period 1793-1815, and this focussed my own interest. My subsequent career as a hydrographic specialist in the Royal Navy broadened...
